I had one poxed bottle of the 97 CBM out of a 6 pack drunk between 08 and 12. The rest varied between excellent and stunning but were all fully mature.
You lot have persuaded me to line up a 2011 Batard for lunch at The Medlar next week.
I did find that the magnums that I’ve tasted of the 04’s have been delicious though…
1988 Criots from Monsieur Fontaine was utterly brilliant last year. IME, these wines age no better and no worse than anyone else in the Post-Premox world. It is foolhardy to hold anyone’s wines more than six years out from the vintage in this day and age, unless it does not sting to dump sliding bottles down the sink. No matter the cru or domaine, the five year mark out from the vintage is now effectively the point of peak maturity for the majority of bottles today, at least in terms of relative safety from a premox incursion. After year five, your odds start to go down briskly, though the occasional bottle that escapes premox is always an inducement to try and push other bottles a bit longer and hope for the best!
Which is why I no longer read reviews of white Burgundy and no longer buy grand crus or even upper level premier crus anymore…if they can’t age, then, at least for my dollars, they aren’t worth the price of admission. Sadly, I only buy bourgognes as house drinkers and the occasional well-priced premier cru (harder to find nowadays) where cracking them open young is no crime.
With Don’s guidance, I was able to find my way to 3 bottles of the somewhat related (?) Blain-Gagnard’s 08 Criots. All 3 are long gone but were all marvelous bottles.
Yeah agree with those that say they look good very young, but age (and then oxidize) very, very early…drink 'em up!.
Second half of my 06 bottle remained splendid last night. The extra time served to calm it down a little but it was no more oxidised than on the first night. No point in waiting further though so I’ll drink the last of my bottles this week.
To echo what some others have said above, Criots really got screwed when it came to the realities of pre-mox. I love the wines- especially Blain-Gagnard, but I won’t touch them. In all of white burgundy perhaps the worst combination of small ownership and premox poster children.
I suppose the d’Auvenay version is safer, but I cannot imagine what it sells for these days. The last offering I ever had for that (less than a barrel produced) was $1,100 each for the 2001 at release- which was more than almost every Montrachet at the time.
Also interested to see what you think. My dad gave me 2 bottles of the 06 as a gift, and we were thinking about a good time to have them.
about 5 years ago.